San Juan County drops racial gerrymandering case

MONTICELLO, Utah — San Juan County commissioners have agreed to drop any further appeals of a federal court’s ruling on racial gerrymandering.

Commissioners voted unanimously Monday morning not to go to the U.S. Supreme Court or ask the full 10th Circuit to revisit the historic ruling.

The Denver-based appeals court upheld a lower court’s ruling that found county commission and school board districts had been drawn to make Native Americans a political minority. The judge had the boundaries redrawn and Native Americans are now the majority.

Commissioner Bruce Adams told FOX 13 he voted for it in order to negotiate with the plaintiffs, the Navajo Nation, for lower attorney’s fees to lessen the county’s burden to taxpayers.

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